Wednesday August 18;
Looking back at yesterday and as there is no soaring today there is only Thursday and Friday to go.
Looking back at the scores from August 15, which were very preliminary , when I shared them, there were changes as not Killian won the day in club class,[191 km.] but G Dale; best distance; 195 km. Good on him!!!
NO FINISHERS!!

A total of 74 pilots were out in real or virtual.[coming back on engine-power
18 in 15 m. ….20 in standard and 36 in club class. NOT GOOD!!!!!
It turns out to be more and more and “out-landing” competition.
BUT,…you have to deal with the circumstances you get.
Hopefully this last week [only 4 days] will show all the guests the REAL French weather!

Even the official rest day , yesterday had not nice weather for sightseeing. Rain and overcast, but with an umbrella everything is possible.And I guess a lot needed a good rest after all the travelling, they did not ask for.
A warm tribute for all crews who have to work hard during this competition.
A lot of “thinking” by more than one pilot, about the first week. Again I advise you to read Matthews article about task 8. Here is part of it;
“Unable to feel out the good climbs under the massive cu’s, I dropped all my water for a few low saves and ended up getting very very close to the airfield. The finish ring height is about 350m above ground, and I parked in lift about 2km from the finish ring at 200m above ground, under total overcast with 20kts of headwind. I couldn’t figure out why this thermal didn’t go above 250m or so, nor why it didn’t seem to drift downwind when I circled, requiring aggressive re-centering upwind every turn. Eventually it clicked – this isn’t a thermal – I’m on the ridge. The topography near the airfield is rolling, and in the strong wind this location was making a bit of ridge lift. Unable to go anywhere with this height, and unsure if the field I could see just ahead inside the ring was really safe, I pushed forward until I got that tingly feeling in my toes before an accident, then went back to outland in a little postage stamp of a field I’d been keeping my eye on near the ‘ridge’ – easily the shortest and most difficult outlanding I’ve ever had to do, probably not abnormal by European standards, but I’m used to Australia’s 2500m fields, not 250m fields. The length wasn’t the problem so much as the turbulence necessitating keeping 120kph until near the ground, which made it float a long way, but I got it stopped 10m before the end with only airbrakes and moderate wheel brake.” Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Pfffff……

Sarah [Arnold] WWGC champion in Lake Keepit, from the USA reflected as well:
“If you win all the time you might forget how to lose. Nobody wants that. When you’re losing you get to a point where you can learn more than any other time. And you have the opportunity to grow in mental strength. You want to be gracious. And at the end you must learn to believe that although you lost you are not a loser.”
INDEED,…..GOOD!!!!

So the WGC continues and what I heard the forecast is not for superb weather. ONLY 4 days to go as Friday is the last flying day and Saturday the prize giving.

Tuesday August 17 ;
Task 9 flying day 7 for club and 6 for standard and 15m.

Club class; 264 km....was launched and the gate was opened straight after the last one was up plus the extra time. The full 264 km. for them AND 2 really flew it and finished. USA pilot Daniel Sazhin and Dutch pilot Thies. Good on them. It took them nearly 4 hours but they were in! That’s more than all the others ,as some have not been finishing at all during this competition.
I get the feeling that pilots and crews after this week are “resigned.”
Another 33 out!
Killian was 3d with 248 flown kilometers!
The overall scores are close ….1. Uwe,2. Thies and 3. Darius 4, Stefan and 5 Ferenc. And look how close they are; 3.700, 3.666,3.640,3.598 and 3.545 points.

standard class; 258 km….now 206 km...launching was postponed and B tasks were handed out. So an hour after club the rest was launched, they could go as well. 19 were in, 10 were out.
Bad day for Filip who was 1 overall but dropped due to an outlanding from 1 to 6. With close scores and a bit of lottery-weather this can happen, but it can go the other way as well over the next 2 days.
Polish pilots Lucasz had the best speed in his Discus 2a;59 km./h. It took him 3.30 hour.
Sarah was on spot 19, the last finisher in this class after nearly 4 hours!!
Close overall scores as well; Simon 3.666, Jan 3.559, Dennis 3.555, Jeremy 3.495 and Norbert 3.471 points.

15 m. class; 294 km... B task..219 km…..as owner of SKYSIGHT, Matthew knows about weather. This was what he mentioned;
“One of the strangest days flying I’ve ever had. 8/8ths overcast of stratus/cumulus/spread out all merging and swirling. The airmass was cold and unstable so just a ray of sun would kick off a few knots, but the wind was oppressive, totally chopping everything up.”
More in his Matthew Scutter’s Gliding

So what happened here in this class?
Sebastian showed why he won so many comps; he flew around with a speed of 81 km./h which was nearly 10 k. faster then Timothy Taylor for the USA , the USA really had a good day!
Dutch pilot Hadriaan had 71 km./h and Aussie Matthew still made the best out of his day with 69 km./h on spot 4.
Only 9 from 28 were in, I even get desponded whilst writing!!!!
Ricky nearly made it, 216 km, so just in or out of the finish circle.
Also here close scores; Sebastian 3.668, Ricky 3.664, Matthew 3.641, Hadriaan 3.621 and Lucasz with 3.565 points.

I was shocked to read the next news from the Belgian team;
“Over the last few days, we also found 2 of our glider sabotaged, this has been shared with the stewards and the organization. Let’s hope they take this seriously and implement additional security measure.”
I sincerely hope so too!!!

To finish. I promised you an update , when I had it, about the fatal accident in Rieti; this one is from AVIATION ACCIDENTS;
“Fatal accident…(8/August/2021)- Italy : A Lange Antares 23E glider, registration D-KVLS, experienced an apparent stall/spin and a subsequent impact with mountainous terrain during the Mediterranean Cup in Rieti, Italy. The glider was destroyed and the sole pilot onboard was fatally injured.“
Sad very sad!

CU later this evening or tomorrow morning. Just heard that the weather is not good today so NO FLYING. Such a pity!!!
Cheers Ritz